Trumpeter Dorival Puccini, Jr. is an active soloist, chamber musician, orchestral player, and educator. Dorival is a member of the Santo Domingo Festival Orchestra, the Camerata Colonial de Santo Domingo, and a former member the Orquestra Sinfônica de Santo André, the Amazonas Filarmônica, and the West Shore Symphony in Muskegon, Michigan. He has performed with the Palm Beach Opera and is an active guest musician with the Grand Rapids Symphony. In addition, Dorival has performed with the New World Symphony and the Orquestra Sinfônica do Teatro Municipal de São Paulo and the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo. He has performed with world-renowned conductors such as Charles Dutoit, James DePriest, Gerard Schwarz, James Conlon, John Adams, David Lockington, and Roberto Minczuk.

Dorival is a founding member of the Axiom Brass. His interest in chamber music has led him to contribute over a dozen transcriptions for brass quintet specially written for the Axiom Brass. His works have been performed across the U.S. as well as in Europe and Asia. In 2010, Dorival co-produced Axiom Brass’ debut album New Standards. He is also actively involved in creating new educational programs and new collaborations for the Axiom Brass while playing a significant role in the ensembles administration and artistic development. In 2014, Dorival made his China Debut as a soloist, performing the Haydn Trumpet Concerto with the Shenzhen Grand Theater Philharmonic under the baton of maestro Hongjia Cui.

As a chamber musician, Dorival has also performed with the Brazilian Brass, and the Amazon Brass. He has recorded Shadowcatcher by composer Eric Ewazen with the Avatar Brass and the Grand Valley State University (GVSU) Wind Ensemble, and also recorded a CD of compositions by Kurt Ellenberger with the Avatar Brass and the GVSU Trumpet Ensemble. Dorival was a prizewinner of the 2002 International Trumpet Guild Orchestra Competition and winner of the Grand Valley Symphony Concerto Competition.

As an educator, Dorival has served as brass coordinator and trumpet teacher of the Projeto Guri, a governmental social project dedicated to teaching music to underprivileged teenagers in São Paulo. He is currently on faculty at Lake Forest College in Lake Forest, Illinois and at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. Dorival has served as director and artist faculty at the Axiom Brass Summer Academy, and is on the artist faculty of the National Brass Symposium. Prior to joining the Faculty at Lake Forest College, Dorival taught at Hope College in Holland, Michigan, at the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp and at Grand Valley State University where he was also the co-founder and associate director of the GVSU International Trumpet Summer Seminar. In 2015 Dorival released the first complete video-recording set of performances and clinics of the Fourteen Characteristic Stuides by Jean Bapitiste Arban available on YouTube.

Dorival holds a Bachelors degree in Music from Grand Valley State University, a Masters degree in Music Performance from the Juilliard School of Music, and a Doctoral degree from Michigan State University. He has studied with trumpet teachers Haroldo Paladino, Mark Gould, Michael Bowman, Richard Stoelzel and Stephen Burns.

Dorival currently lives in Chicago, Illinois with his wife, violinist Rachelle Puccini, his daughter Valentina and his Chocolate Labrador, Godiva. During his free time, he enjoys cooking and cycling with Rachelle, teaching Godiva the art of soccer goal keeping and watching little Valentina smile.

Axiom Brass

News

Welcome to a New Season!

We are looking forward to another exciting season of great music, classes, clinics and special appearances. This year we once again travel around the country with concerts in the South, Midwest, the East and West Coasts and more. This season, we will present a new series of concerts and educational programs in and around Chicago. We are looking forward to seeing many old friends and fans, meeting new ones, and visiting new places. We look forward to seeing you at one of our concerts!